Friday, June 06, 2008

Run DMc Is In The House (of Thrills!)

1st round pick Darren McFadden signed a 6 year, $60M contract with $26M in guarantees last night. Amazingly, it took a mere 2 days to negotiate the contract.

When reading various articles about McFadden, reports about mini camp, and watching interviews with the young 20 year old phenom, one thing has really stood out for me. McFadden gets "it".

He is passionate about his craft, humble about his unique abilities, and grateful for this opportunity to play a game for mega bucks. Besides being a big play threat and game changer, McFadden's versatility as a runner, receiver, and return man will add an exciting new dimension to the Raider's offense.

Darren McFadden: He just told me that he was very happy to have me here and that he is looking forward to seeing me in a Raiders uniform.

Q: The Raiders organization has a lot of history and tradition. How does it feel to put on the Silver and Black?

Darren McFadden: It’s a great feeling to join this organization and the fans are very passionate. It’s kind of like playing in the SEC because they have great fans, it is something that I am looking forward to. It’s been a long time that a running back from Arkansas has been in a Raiders uniform and I'm going to try to make history.

Q: How do you as a rookie conduct yourself in the locker room?

Darren McFadden: I just go out there and be very humble about it. I’m not the type of person who is going to go in there with a big head and be bragging or anything like that. That’s one thing that has helped me out a lot, being a humble person. I feel like my whole team has embraced me.

10 Comments:

Anonymous said...

CJ,

As I mentioned in previous posts-pre draft when some people thought taking McFadden was overkill, the man is the real deal. I watch a lot of SEC living in Florida it is by far the best conference and D-Mac lit up many a quality defense (200 plus against LSU).

Hopefully Russell and McFadden will keep us competitive for 10 years. Now if we could only do something about the o-line and d-line

I'm one of those "nay-sayers" on McFadden. I don't think it was a need. I know, the argument is you can also get needs filled in Free Agency, but we didn't fill our needs with reliable vets at the OT positions, and we signed vet receivers coming off knee injuries; to give us a total of 3 receivers coming into the season with knee injuries (Walker, Carter, and Curry, who is still recovering).We had a real shot to go after Max Starks of the Steelers at OT, which would have been awesome, but we never tried to pursue him. Currently, the Free Agent list at this position has these "potential" players we could sign, that aren't bad and could give Kwame Harris a run for his money:Nat Dorsey 6'7, 335 lbs BrownsAnthony Clement 6'8 320 lbs JetsStockar McDougle 6'6", 340 lbs* JagsWayne Gandy 6'5 315 lbs FalconsBrandon Gorin 6'6 308 lbsCory Lekkerkerker 6'7 323 UnknownSean Locklear 6'4 308 Seahags

I think Stockar McDougle would be our best bet here. His weight is a concern for our system, but Lekkerkerker would be our best choice out of this group to fit our system in his size and he's coming into his 4th season. My second choice would be Locklear, then Clement, then Dorsey, and then Gandy. We could probably get Lekkerkerker for a good price, as well as Dorsey and Clement (age on Clement).

Excellent post RaiderNate. The Raiders could definitely use some fierce competition at OT. If nothing else, Kwame Harris needs to have a fire lit and realize that there is no guarantee he is the starter. Of your list, the key is which prospective candidate has the best footwork, agility, and skill set to shine in the Zone Blocking Scheme. Wasn't there a Texan who was recently cut who did well in the ZBS with Denver? I'm drawing blanks but I would lean towards an inexpensive, relatively young prospect already familiar with ZBS.

Along those same lines, we need to canvas the pool of possible WRs who are (or will be) on the market. A #2/#3 type WR to compete with Carter & Curry and provide depth.

You are usually right on with your data but with all due respect what are you talking about when you mention a number 2 or 3 to compete with Curry and Carter? Are you not considering Wakler as our number one (we are paying him something like 10mm this year) which would make Curry and Carter the two and three? Not to mention we drafted two wide receivers this year and have Higgins from last year who is yet to be confirmed as a bust. LEts worry about the o-line which brings me to

Raider Nate,

Comment

Kwame might be a long shot to produce well but look at the guys you are mentioning they are garbage. That you say your number one choice is some guy name Cory Lekkerkerker who is such a nobody you list his team as unknown. The only decent guy on that list is Gandy and he is way past his prime we would be better off inviting Sims back. McDougle I live in Miami he played here a few years ago and sucks. BTW your boy Corey was also in Miami for about ten minutes and could nto stick on a line way worse than the Raiders. Not trying to down you post becaue I agree o-line is a big need but the pickings are slim given how Henderson has looked in minicamp and McQuiz being mediorce at best the oline sitch is depressing.

I wish Al had spent some serious coin on an olinemen, look what Steinbach and Hutchinson signing did for their teams the past couple of years

FR said, "Kwame might be a long shot to produce well but look at the guys you are mentioning they are garbage. That you say your number one choice is some guy name Cory Lekkerkerker who is such a nobody you list his team as unknown." --The reason I have him listed as an unknown is because the nfl website does not list his team; at the time. Now they have him as signed with the Cowboys; so scratch him."The only decent guy on that list is Gandy and he is way past his prime we would be better off inviting Sims back. McDougle I live in Miami he played here a few years ago and sucks. BTW your boy Corey was also in Miami for about ten minutes and could nto stick on a line way worse than the Raiders."--But they are not running a ZBS system in Dolphin camp, and McDougle faired well in the ZBS in Jacksonville, he could be a Pro Bowler if he lost some pounds. Lekkerkerker played in a ZBS at Cal-Davis and faired well. Now the Cowboys have him, and maybe we will see how he fairs in that system (where they run a ZBS)."Not trying to down you post becaue I agree o-line is a big need but the pickings are slim given how Henderson has looked in minicamp and McQuiz being mediorce at best the oline sitch is depressing."--Gandy is past his prime; which is why he wasn't high on my list. I wouldn't mind Clement. He's aging, but he can still move and play. I honestly think that any of those guys I listed could be a guy that sparks a fire under the mediocre players at O-Tackle that we have.

FL Raider: You totally misunderstood my comment about our WRs. Clearly I know Walker is our #1. I view Carter as our #2 and Curry as our #3. My point was that we need another #2/#3 type of WR to compete with both Carter & Curry AND to provide depth in case one of our WRs go down. The WRs we drafted are projects at best. I'm certainly not counting on Higgins who has looked horrible in minicamp.

I respectfully disagree with Raider Nate. The Raiders need TDs. McFadden is going to get a boatload. Resting on Huggy Jr. would have been like hiring Bill Callahan. We needed a bold move and we got it.

Old Skool, how do you expect McFadden and our offense to score TD's without blocking?What I've read on McFadden during OTA's too hasn't been encouraging to me. Running into the back of your blockers is not a good thing, and it tells me one of three things are happening. 1) That means he is waiting for a hole to develop that is not developing. Or 2) He doesn't know where the hole is going to be. Or 3) He is over anxious to make something happen.All three of these things hurts an offense. I really, honestly think that Bush is going to be the better of the 2.